1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a disc drive apparatus having a disc identifying mechanism for identifying type of a disc, especially, relates to a disc inserting and discharging portion having detecting means for detecting the disc passing or the like.
The term “disc drive apparatus” here indicates a disc recording apparatus, a disc reproducing apparatus, or a disc recording and reproducing apparatus.
2. Description of the Related Art
In a disc drive apparatus such as an on-vehicle audio apparatus comprising a disc identifying device for identifying the type of a disc, conventionally, a lever to be driven by a contact with a disc or an adaptor is used and a light to be transmitted to light detecting means is shielded by the lever, thereby controlling the start of loading and the completion of the loading and preventing an erroneous detection from being caused by the slit of the adaptor (for example, see Patent Document 1: JP-A-2000-163840).
Description will be given to a disc identifying device disclosed in the Patent Document 1.
In FIGS. 49 and 50, a lower board 911 is fixed to the housing of a disc changer device which is not shown, and an upper board 912 is rotatably supported on the lower board 911. A portion between the upper board 912 and the lower board 911 becomes a disc insertion port 910.
A light receiving unit 913A provided on a left end side in FIG. 50 in the transverse direction of the disc insertion port 910 and a light receiving unit 913B provided on an almost center in the transverse direction of the disc insertion port 910 are attached to the lower board 911. Moreover, a small hole 914A and a small hole 914B are formed on the upper board 912, and furthermore, a vibration plate (lever) 915 is slidably held in the transverse direction of the disc insertion port 910 on the opposite side of the disc insertion port 910.
In addition, a small hole 916A and a large hole 916B are formed on the vibration plate 915 and a spring 917 engaged with the upper board 912 is engaged with the vibration plate 915, and furthermore, the vibration plate 915 is provided with a pin 918 protruded into the disc insertion port 910 through the notch portion of the upper board 912. The vibration plate 915 is energized in a direction shown in an arrow 915a by the elastic force of the spring 917.
In the housing of the disc changer device, moreover, a light emitting unit 919A is attached into an opposed position to the light receiving unit 913A and a light emitting unit 919B is attached into an opposed position to the light receiving unit 913B.
By the structure described above, the disc identifying device constituted by the light receiving unit 913A and the light receiving unit 913B to be light detecting means can identify the type of a disc through outputs from the light receiving unit 913A and the light receiving unit 913B.
For example, when a disc (hereinafter referred to as an ordinary first disc) 920 (see FIG. 49 or 51) having an outside diameter of 12 cm, an adaptor 921 (see FIG. 52) having an outside diameter of 12 cm, capable of holding a disc (hereinafter referred to as a second disc) having an outside diameter of 8 cm in a central part and having a slit 924 (see FIG. 52) or the second disc held in the adaptor 921 is inserted in the disc insertion port 910 or when the second disc is inserted from a left side in the transverse direction of the disc insertion port 910, the pin 918 is driven by the inserted disc or adaptor so that the sliding plate 915 is slid in a direction shown in an arrow 915b from a position shown in FIG. 49 to a position shown in FIG. 51. Accordingly, the small hole 914A formed on the upper board 912 is blocked with the sliding plate 915 as shown in FIG. 51. For this reason, the light receiving unit 913A cannot receive a light from the light emitting unit 919A. Moreover, the small hole 914B formed on the upper board 912 is not blocked with the sliding plate 915 by the action of the large hole 916B formed on the sliding plate 915. Therefore, the light can be received from the light receiving unit 919B until the light receiving unit 913B is blocked with the disc or the adaptor.
On the other hand, when the second disc is inserted from a center or a right side in the transverse direction of the disc insertion port 910, the pin 918 is not driven by the inserted disc. Therefore, the small hole 914A and the small hole 914B formed on the upper board 912 are not blocked with the sliding plate 915 but the light receiving unit 913A can always receive the light from the light emitting unit 919A. Moreover, the light receiving unit 913B can receive the light from the light emitting unit 919B until it is blocked with the disc or the adaptor.
In an audio apparatus comprising the disc identifying device shown in FIGS. 49 and 51, accordingly, the, type of a disc can be identified by outputs from the light receiving unit 913A and the light receiving unit 913B. In the case in which the first disc 920 and the second disc held in the adaptor 921 are inserted, loading is continuously carried out to deliver the disc to a disc housing portion which is not shown. On the other hand, in the case in which the second disc or the adaptor 921 holding no second disc is inserted, it is discharged.
However, in the conventional disc identifying device, the forth disc whose diameter is 12 cm and which has a smaller data area (8 cm) than the first disc (which is an ordinal 12 cm disc) may be dealt with in a same manner to that of the second disc (8 cm). In other words, the conventional disc identifying device cannot distinct the forth disc form the second disc.
Moreover, in the conventional disc identifying device, however, the light detecting means is used for detecting a disc. For this reason, there is a possibility that the insertion of the disc in the device cannot be detected and the loading operation of the disc into the device might not be started when the light transmittance of the disc is high.